Quote Originally Posted by Ripptyde
This is why I like to raise the pot on ANY pair...nothing huge...but enough to make the pot 'interesting' keeping a few players in...then when the set hits on the flop....I 'take it down' with a pot sized bet or call a medium sized bet from someone early in the rotation.
If a set is always an automatic take-down I think you're losing money here, particularly if you were the pre-flop aggressor (representing big cards or a big pair.) Sure, if the flop is single suited a takedown is pretty much nessisary (if they got the flush, so be it, pay them off and take the odds on upgrading to a boat or quads up.) Two suited you need to consider the size of the field and if the (weakened) flush or straight draw is out there to pay you off. Just like there are some hands I'm willing to push all-in with, there are some hands I'm willing to slow play a little. A set on a fairly safe flop is one of them. On the flop, you're almost always way ahead. Sometimes you're not that far behind and only a bigger set really destroys your hand.

I've only laid down a set once, that was on the river with the board showing 4 suited cards and it was a good laydown. Short of such exceptional circumstances, I'm taking a set to showdown. My biggest concern is not if I have the best hand, but how I get as many chips in the center of the table given the particular situation (players.)